Saturday, June 23, 2012

Desert Skirmish

Without a lot of time for gaming right now we are still playing a lot of board games and "out of the box" miniatures games to keep us going. Here is a small desert skirmish using Axis & Allies minis as well as the new Angels 20 aircraft for props. We like playing early North African games featuring the Italians vs. the Brits. Very challenging and fun little games. Here the Brits are trying to break through a thin Italian defense and exit off the far side of the map. The battlefield is a bombed out airstrip. We play with FOW until the units are spotted by placing the units cards on the table with a cover over them. FOW adds a lot to this game especially since the recon units can utilize their abilities better.

I like A&A because you can throw down some fast little games that are quite fun.

Herrodadog advances with plenty of recon units, the Italians draw first blood.

A couple of Semoventes providing the muscle for the Italian line.

George's Italian fighter providing some pesky air cover.

The Matildas are real beasts at this time, fortunately they are very slooooow.

Much of the British recon is already out of action and the fighter is still buzzing about, but those Matildas keep rolling.

They are pushing back everything in their path.

In the background George and Herrodadog are skirmishing in the town and my Semoventes are steadily firing and falling back.

George's Italians flanking the British advance. One of the Matildas gets its track knocked out and is stuck.

The Italians are doing a pretty good job of delaying, but slowly the Brits are getting the upper hand in the infantry battle, and the remaining Matildas are still advancing as they wish.

But the British attack on the barracks has stalled.

Herro decides to slip over to the road with his Matties but finds quite a bit of remaining Italian resistance in the buildings. Lots of close action now.

I've lost one of my Semmies, but the Brits lose another Matilda as well and now have no hope of continuing the thrust. The Italians carry the day!

What Miniatures Gaming is All About:

This quote was taken from a brilliant post by John Paul on the THW yahoo group.This is exactly what this hobby is all about!

The first time a new kid comes to game:

What? There's no screen? How do you... You mean I have to face my opponent and even have to talk to them. (You got a nice house here.)Heh.... What's that? Dice? How quaint. (Sure, I'll take a Coke.) Coollittle figures. You know, I've heard about army men from movies... YOU PAINT THEM YOURSELF?! (You do a good job, I could never do that.) Nice dollhouses. Hey, can I bring my Hot Wheels?

No No Go left!I think we should run through the house. (Yea, my teacher said the same thing in my class. Who do you have?) Cool, I want to loot the body... YEA! I got a shotgun. (I'd say the scene with Shelob was the scariest.) Wow, I almost died. Thanks for saving me. Why are you laughing. No, You can't have my shotgun. I guess with that pistol aimed at my face, you are going to get that shotgun. Just watch your back. (Well, my favorite show is in an hour, but I can record it. No, I'll stay.) How come we shoot the zombies up and we always get more and Jake is beating them with a baseball bat and he gets none? (Stop throwing popcorn at me...Steve...[giggle]...Don't do it Steve... [giggle-haahaaa]) Is that a grenade? OOOHH. How did I know you werein the explosion's spread.... Do I have enough room to scoot over and pick up the shotgun from his mangled body? How many more zombies did that bring in? (You got great parents. I didn't know you could play this with them.) Awesome. I just became zombie chow!

Well, that was cool! er... do you... when do you play this again? (You guys are cool to hang around with.)Can I get one of those miniatures with a shotgun.I love shotguns! Can you paint it for me? You'll show me how to paint it? Cool!

What really happens to youth when they venture forth from Video Games andget sucked into the dark vortex of wargaming. : )

John Paul

About Me

I figured it was time to change my profile as I have completely evolved as a gamer the past couple of years. I no longer describe myself as "avid" but just plain sick. Ever since getting into skirmish gaming things in my miniatures world have been just plain awesome. Glancing through my blog you will quickly figure out that I love it all; any period, any scale, and there is no telling what you will find here from day to day. My kids and their friends like to play and even my Wife will game from time to time which is kind of the ultimate achievement for any gamer. I'm blessed with fellow gamers in the Houston area which are as fanatic as myself and our biggest problem is not when we will play, but what we will play. You can find me knocking about many miniatures related sites around the web as Veloci, Sturmflieger, or LTL Dad.